Author: Jason Hare
I’m originally from Southwest Missouri, but I’ve been living in Israel since 2007. In college, I studied Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, French, and American Sign Language. I’ve had the Hebrew Café domain for many years, during which we used it for a set of forums for Jewish people from all different communities. I currently teach a biblical Hebrew course that is running on YouTube. We are about to begin the second section of that course (HE102), which uses Kutz and Josberger’s Learning Biblical Hebrew. I have two students of modern Hebrew that are working through Rosén’s A Textbook of Israeli Hebrew.
Background
I started studying biblical Hebrew in my second year of Bible college way back in 1999. So far, it’s been a twenty-seven-year dance with the language and what it presents to us. I’ve loved this language and the texts that have come down to us in it, both from the biblical period and from later periods of history. Almost anyone who sits through one of my live lessons will know that I’m excited about what we find in segolate constructions, in which consonant clusters undergo some type of resolution to create new syllables and to break up the cluster. This is something that I took interest in during that first year of study of BH (Biblical Hebrew) at Ozark Christian College (OCC) under Dr. Larry Pechawer, and every time I get to teach or talk about segolates in class sessions, I might go a bit overboard in my excitement to show just how prevalent this feature of the language’s morphology actually is. It appears everywhere and influences everything in the language. If understanding the use of participles is the key to mastering ancient Greek, then understanding the phenomenon of segolates is the key to unlocking comprehension of Hebrew morphology. I’m convinced of this.
I’ve wondered for a while just how much of the Hebrew Bible (Tanach) I’ve read until now. I’ve started reading programs in the past and read through, perhaps, Leviticus before running out of steam. K’ilu, I’m sure that I’ve read all of the Bible in English several times, but there are definitely parts of the Hebrew text that I’ve never gotten to.
With that in mind, I created a tracker on Excel that I use while reading the Hebrew Bible. Afterwards, I uploaded it to Google Driver and formatted it to match their style. Below is a picture of how it looks for me, with Sefaria on the right and the tracker on the left.
If you’re interested in reading the Bible with this tracker, you can save a copy of your own to Google Drive and begin reading the Hebrew Bible at your pace.
I hope to finish the whole Tanach in 2026. As you can see, I’ve already gotten a good start (21.5% of the chapters in the Bible are done by this point).
Happy reading!
Jason
Jonathan brought to my attention a couple of days ago that we haven’t done any real kind of update about our activities recently. The last post I made about this was back in February. So, I’m going to write really quickly now to let you know what we’ve been doing and working on around here. Also, I’d love it if you gave me some feedback about new things you’d be interested in doing.
It’s been our recent practice to divide our sessions up into “first hour,” “second hour,” and “third hour,” as we do three hours on Monday evenings. These hours are 5:00pm, 6:00pm, and 7:00pm (Eastern US), which correspond to 12:00am, 1:00am, and 2:00am in Israel. I know that this isn’t a convenient time slot for everyone in the world, but I’m not sure what else I can do at this point.
First Hour — Reading Hebrew
Since Simḥaṯ Torah, we’ve been reading through a single aliyah from within Parashat haShavua [פָּרָשַׁת הַשָּׁבוּעַ Pārāšaṯ Haššāḇû(a)ʿ]. Our reading schedule is posted online here.
Second Hour — Translating into Biblical Hebrew
Until now, we’ve been using the second hour to translate from KJV-style English into biblical Hebrew using Weingreen’s Classical Hebrew Composition (Oxford, 1957).
Third Hour — Modern Hebrew (now using Hebrew from Scratch, book 2)
Colton and I have been going through a set of textbooks intended to introduce students to spoken Hebrew. It’s been a great ride, and Colton has made great strides. We’re very willing to review and practice speaking if anyone wants to join us!
Anyone who makes a paid subscription on Patreon can join us on Stream and join the modern Hebrew hour.
To check out our past and upcoming streams, go to The Hebrew Café’s YouTube channel under the Live tab.
Admittedly, I didn’t know the difference between “pictograph” and “pictogram,” so I just asked ChatGPT, and it confirmed to me that I should be using the word “pictograph” throughout my discussion and not “pictogram.” I don’t feel like going back through the posts to change it, so please understand that I mean the use of a written symbol to represent a full word that is supposed to resemble it in drawing. For example, א is supposed to look like an ox head and represent the word אלף elef. I shouldn’t be using the word “pictogram” to describe this.
עִמָּכֶם הַסְּלִיחָה
As we come to the beginning of March, I just wanted to take a few minutes to update you on our YouTube activities and where we are going in the near future.
What’s Staying the Same
We will continue to break up our lessons into “hours” (“First Hour,” “Second Hour,” etc.). I’m not sure on what date the following changes will go into effect, but this is the direction that I’m thinking at this time.
In our recent YouTube Live session, we delved into the fascinating world of Biblical Hebrew, focusing on two unique types of nouns: segolate and geminate nouns. These concepts are crucial for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of Hebrew grammar.
Segolate Nouns
Segolate nouns are a distinctive category in Biblical Hebrew. They typically have a two-syllable structure with the accent on the first syllable. The name “segolate” comes from the Hebrew word “segol,” which is a vowel sound represented by three dots arranged in a triangle (ֶ). These nouns often undergo vowel changes when they are inflected, making them an interesting study for linguists and language enthusiasts alike.
Geminate Nouns
Geminate nouns, on the other hand, are characterized by having two identical consonants in succession. This doubling of consonants can affect the pronunciation and inflection of the noun. Understanding geminate nouns is essential for proper pronunciation and comprehension of Biblical texts.
So, you’ve decided to dive into the ancient and fascinating world of Biblical Hebrew? Mazal tov (מַזָּל טוֹב)! You’re about to embark on a journey that will not only deepen your understanding of ancient texts but also enrich your appreciation of history, culture, and language. Here are some tips to help you get started.
1. Start with the Basics
Before you can read and understand Biblical Hebrew, you need to get familiar with the Hebrew alphabet (The “Aleph-Bet”). There are 22 letters, and each one has a unique sound and shape. Spend some time practicing writing and pronouncing each letter. Flashcards can be a great tool for this. Our recent posts on this blog dealing with the beginnings of the study of Seow’s grammar will help you get started with that. You will also find advice for other online learning sites there.
Continue reading “Embarking on Your Journey with Biblical Hebrew: A Beginner’s Guide”
Jonathan taught this session, presenting an introduction to nouns and the endings that they take. This was the fourth session of the course, and it was aimed at covering the material in Lesson III of the book.
Making Plurals in English
In English, our nouns are normally very simple. To form plurals, we just add –s, or –es if the last sound calls for it. Thus, computer simply becomes computers; desk becomes desks; friend becomes friends; and, box (ending in an s sound) becomes boxes. There is a list that all school children must memorize of “irregular” nouns like ox (oxen) and child (children), as well as some that do not change form for the plural (fish can be either one fish or twenty fish).
Well, I missed the summary of Session 2, having put a LOT of information into my recap of the alphabet.
In our second session, we covered Lesson I of Dr. C.L. Seow’s A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew, Rev. Ed. (Abingdon, 1995). Lesson I presents the consonants of the Hebrew alphabet (what we call the “Aleph-Bet” הָאָלֶפְבֵּית), explaining the final forms, and how each letter is represented in academic transcription.